A red-tipped dawn : teaching and learning about indigeneity and the implications for citizenship education : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

The politics of Indigeneity and reconceptualisations of citizenship education present both challenges and opportunities to those of us engaged in teaching and learning about Indigeneity and citizenship in settler colonial societies. Utilising Kaupapa Māori (Indigenous, decolonising, critical) practitioner ethnography, this project investigated "what is best evidence-based practice in teaching and learning about Indigeneity? and what are the implications for citizenship education?" by examining existing literature and interviewing senior Indigenous, expert Indigeneity educators from Turtle Island (mainland USA and Canada), Hawai’i, Australia and Aotearoa. The findings from these interviews in particular offer significant guidelines for Indigeneity educators into the future: (1) best evidence-based practices in teaching and learning about Indigeneity, including the specific outcomes sought, the challenges that may be encountered with learners, and then curricula and pedagogical considerations to overcome these particular challenges; (2) citizenship as a site of Indigeneity struggles and the subsequent implications of Indigeneity for citizenship education, including what might be some initial curricula elements of transformative citizenship education in settler colonial societies, and; (3) the implications of best evidence-based practices in teaching and learning about Indigeneity for citizenship education generally in the areas of praxis, curricula and pedagogy.